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Regents take first steps toward reforming Common Core curriculum standards

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State Education Commissioner John King paid a visit in September to these kindergartners at PS 59, New Brighton. King, with members of the state Board of Regents took the first steps Monday towards reforming the Common Core curriculum standards that have become a hot-button issue among both parents and educators.
(Staten Island Advance)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The state Board of Regents took its first major steps in Albany Monday to put the brakes on phasing in the Common Core curriculum standards, delaying full implementation of the standards until 2022.

Regents members also took steps to protect from relying too heavily on standardized test scores to evaluate student and teacher performance.

"We have listened to the concerns of parents and teachers," said Regents Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch. "We've heard the concerns expressed at the hearings and forums, and we regret that the urgency of our work, and the unevenness of implementation, have caused frustration and anxiety for some of our educators, students, and their families."

Chancellor Tisch said the changes -- that are scheduled to be voted upon by the full board on Tuesday -- are designed "to help give principals, teachers, parents and students the time to adjust to the new standards, without stopping our progress toward the goal we all share, that of college and career readiness for every student."

Under the changes, the requirement to pass Common Core-based Regents exams at the college- and career-ready level will be extended. The class of 2022 will be the first to face the new higher graduation requirements, 12 years after the state's adoption of the standards in 2010.

To ensure that students are not unfairly penalized by the transition to higher standards, the State Education Department (SED) will issue guidelines discouraging local school districts, including the city's Department of Education, "from making promotion or placement decisions (solely) using student performance on state assessment (tests) in grades 3-8." Instead, districts will be encouraged to use "multiple measures" that may also include test scores, to assess student performance.

For teachers, the SED will recommend a cap on the amount of instructional time teachers may spend on preparing students for standardized tests. Both teachers and parents have complained that too much class time is wasted on test-prep.

State Education Commissioner John B. King Jr. said the changes will help give principals, teachers, parents and students the time to adjust to the new standards.

"Any major shift -- especially one involving 700 school districts, more than 4,500 schools, and millions of students -- is going to require adjustments and course corrections along the way," King said. "The implementation of the higher standards has been uneven, and these changes will help strengthen the important work happening in schools throughout the state." 